Easter Egg Safety

Get ready, get set, GO!! It’s time for the annual Easter egg hunt at grandmas. Whoa, wait, the forecast is for snow up until Easter morn. Nope, no Easter bonnets and frilly dresses for this crowd. We live in Wyoming and most Easters its heavy coats and warm woolen mittens. Oh well,look at the bright side. The eggs will stand out brightly in contrast to the white fallen snow.

The four granddaughters who spend the bulk of their week with us have never experienced lush green grass and warm Easter morns so they won’t know anything different. They’ve been hunting eggs in the snow since they were babes.

Snow this time of year is welcomed as it increases the snow pack in the mountains for summer irrigation and a larger hay crop which means lower prices for us who buy. It also means a higher water table which fills our water well. Besides a little snow keeps the eggs up off the deer fertilized lawn. Yes, we get 30 head or so in the yard most days and they don’t use outhouses. Multiply that by an entire winter and you get the idea.

It is why we don’t use hard boiled eggs in our hunt and you shouldn’t either if you have a pet who roams the yard, or if you use pesticides, fertilizers, animal manure, and other contaminants. Even if you haven’t, you can’t tell me that the song birds haven’t used your yard as their bathroom. Remember – eggs have a porous shell. Of course if you don’t eat your boiled eggs afterwards then have a good time with them. They are an inexpensive entertainment or spring decoration.

If you intend to eat your decorated, hard boiled, eggs then keep them refrigerated. Boiling removes the protective layer on the shell. Of course use food specific dyes which include commercial egg dyes, liquid food coloring and fruit-drink powders like Kool-aid. And of course consume these works of art within a week.

For the Easter egg hunt itself we use plastic Easter eggs of which some date back to when the kid’s parents were young and hunting them themselves. I just wash them and put them away in an old duffel bag for the next year. We have special eggs for the littlest members of the family which are in the shape of chicks and carrots. That way the older children know to leave them alone and the littlest and toddling grandlittles can still get their fair share of eggs and be a part of the larger group of grandchildren chasing about. I hope all 7 grandchildren can attend.

Welcome!! Join me and find out what happens each week as I muddle between research and the reality of acquiring a measure of skill on the subject. It’s all about self-sufficiency and homesteading. So peek in as I coax frothy rich milk into the bucket, gather eggs, knead bread, and beg vegetables to grow.